Learning a second language.

Yes, but they were paid for by the government and taught at the Military Language Institute in Monterey. 

One of the better alternatives is to go to your local community college or university.  You can sign up for college credit or take evening language classes that are designed for the general public.   We teach several languages here. 

More accurately most are European where the educational system them puts a much larger emphasis on languages than US schools.

Most European 10 year olds speak 3x more languages than 50 year old Americans.

I think Rosetta Stone is worth it... but there is a catch you have to use it, and a lot.  At least I did.  I used it thru the second level of French.  I enjoyed it more then taking classes, which has always failed for me in the past. 

I don't really agree that kids learn it faster.  They're just less afraid to speak what they've learned even if it's wrong. 

I moved to Mexico at 6, spent 7 years in Central America and came back.  Later, in college, my folks were in Vienna (we may have run into each other on the Strassenbahn) and I took an intensive German course.  My German to this day is better when I'm drinking beer or wine. 

I also used CDs to learn Arabic.  I would have the radio in my bathroom and turn that on whenever I was in there.  I learned a few extra terms "stop", "get on your face", "get back" for when I was in Iraq.

Rosetta Stone is great.  But as has already been said, you have to use it a lot and it's very expensive.  Also, if you aren't speaking to a person, you won't get comfortable speaking to people in that language.  In fact, I wonder if you couldn't do an immersion course for the price of it. 

Immersion courses are where they never speak a word of english as soon as you walk in the room and they'll kick you out if you say something in english.  It's learning like you did when you were a baby.  Lots of grunting and pointing, but 6 weeks into it, you're rattling off whole phrases and writing in the language. 

I want to learn Hawaiian next...and how to play the Ukulele.

I haven't but my daughter and wife are working on a learning a new  language as adults.

My daughter married a Brazilian guy and moved to Sao Paulo.  She had some background in foreign language before she met her husband (husband is a native Portguese speaker but is fluent in English as well as Spanish and Italian).  She was proficient in French had learned some Portuguese in New York when they were dating before moving to Brazil.  When she moved to Brazil, she took 6 months of intensive classes (4 to 6 hours a day 5 days a week) and she worked with her husband's family who do not speak much English.  A year later she was fluent.  She is a financial analyst and project manager for a Brazilian office of an international business consulting firm.  She had to learn to read and write in Portuguese to be able to work with her team.  That is one way to do it.

My wife is taking private lessons from a college teacher of Portuguese and also using the Rosetta stone.  She was already fluent in French (she was a French teacher at the AP high school level).  She takes about a one hour lesson a week from her teacher.  I rarely see her study except on the day of the lesson.  The Portguese is coming slowly for her.  After a year or so, she can communicate a little bit but really relies on our daughter and son-in-law when in Brazil to translate.  

Me, I just learn a few words here and there when we visit.  I find I can look at the newspaper and get the gist of the story but not detailed comprehension because there similarites to English, Latin, and French which I know some of.  I don't get much of anything from the spoken language.  I am totally defenseless in a conversation.

TW

I've never had good luck with community ed classes.  The caliber of teacher varies widely.   I tried a Spanish class and the teacher was from a country in central America with a dialect and pronunciation quite different from any Spanish I knew, and she decided to go with full immersion from the get go.  But I dont' think she knew how to do it, really, it made no sense.

I've had some luck with basic phrases using CDs, but if I really wanted to learn i would find a real school.   Berlitz is another big name and they have some classes.

If you use Rosetta Stone every day, it works.

I am currently with a Chinese Tutor every tuesday and thursday for 2 hours each time.  Progress is there, but it is a little frustrating.

My wife is only taking lessons once a week and her progress is not as good.  

No matter the method, the key is consistency.  Good luck!

Both Latin based languages. You'll find that French is also reasonably close (it's more obvious when reading it rather than speaking it though) as is Portuguese. I used to travel Italy regularly with a friend that spoke much more fluent Spanish than I do, he had no problem getting around speaking Spanish directly to the Italians. They would answer him back in Italian.

I used this site - free for a while and ongoing in a limited manner.

Effective to see if you want to continue...

Exercises are good, you have to write, read, comprehend - but also interact on IM with others. Offers peer help and travel courses.

Lots of languages to choose from

www.busuu.com

Thanks for all the input everyone! There are some great suggestions. I may see if they local community college or university offers some language classes and see how much they are. Obviously I think that a class would be better than something like Rosetta Stone just because I would have others to practice with. 

I actually quite envy those who have grown up in European countries because they are taught so many languages from birth. But then again, they can travel country to country the way we travel state to state. 

When I visit Boston I swear they speak another language...

Right back at ya! Ya Limey Bloke!

"England and America are two countries separated by a common language" -George Bernard Shaw

Also "Americans adore me and will go on adoring me until I say something nice about them." -same

I forgot! one more tip... Watch television in that language.  I watched "The Simpsons" in German when I was in Vienna.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzmVeYZLC_Q

It helps believe it or not to just hear the language often until you pick up the syllables and then you can find the words and then you can look up those words.

Ni Hao.

I am learning Mandrin Chinese right now by using the Pimsler Approach.  It is wonderful and only cost me $9.95 for the first 10 lessons.  Within two weeks I was able to carry on a complete conversation and order food in a Chinese restaurant.  It amazed the wait staff.

The system teaches you like a child learns with phraseology instead of conjugations and sheer memorization.  I think the whole program runs about $200 and payable on a month to month system.

In my opinion, learning Italian instead of Spanish for use in the US is a waste of time.  If you don't use it constantly you will forget and fail to improve.  Spanish is by far the most useful language you can learn if you live in the Southwest.  For most places around here, if you don't speak Spanish, you don't work.

As an adult in Los Angeles, I spoke a variety of lanugages every day.  English, Spanish, Tagalog, Armenian, Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, and some Viet Namese.

It is amazing to see people open up to you when they know you have taken the time to learn their language, even if it just a few words.

Buenos Suerte with your decision

My son went to DLI